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Daddy Yankee remains embroiled in an intense legal battle that seems never-ending. Following his highly publicized divorce from Mireddys González, the Puerto Rican artist is now targeting another key figure in his career and personal life: his former manager and ex-friend, Raphy Pina.
The reggaeton icon filed a federal lawsuit against Pina and his ex-wife Mireddys, alleging the existence of a scheme involving fraud, document manipulation, and the diversion of millions in royalties that, according to their lawyers, has allegedly been ongoing for nearly a decade.
According to the documents submitted to the Federal Court of Puerto Rico, Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez, the artist's real name, accuses both of altering contracts and copyright records to register Pina as a co-author of 15 of his most successful songs —including "Runaway," "Bella y sensual," "La Rompe Corazones," and "De vuelta pa’ la vuelta"—, without having participated in their creation.
The lawsuit, filed alongside her company Los Cangris, Inc., falls under the RICO Act (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) and points to the existence of an organized structure that allegedly used intermediary companies, falsified contracts, and intimidation tactics to divert royalty payments. Among the co-defendants are attorney Edwin Prado-Galarza and assistant Andrés Coll-Fernández, identified as having facilitated the fraudulent operations.
The alleged fraud would have come to light at the end of 2024, when Daddy Yankee regained full control of his companies after separating from Mireddys González. During that process, his team detected financial irregularities, deleted emails, and altered contracts, which prompted the start of an internal investigation with the advice of a former FBI chief in Puerto Rico.
The so-called “Big Boss” is requesting a compensation of three million dollars and the correction of all authorship and rights records for the songs involved in the alleged scheme. Meanwhile, the world of reggaeton remains astonished by the breakup between two of its most influential figures, whose friendship and partnership have become one of the most talked-about legal disputes in the Latin entertainment industry today.
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